The Chamber Court of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court hastemporarily stayed a High Court judgment directing Grameen Kalyan, a social business organisation founded by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, to pay 666 crore taka in outstanding income tax demanded by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Presided over by Justice Md Rezaul Haque, the Chamber Court issued the stay order on Saunday, 18 October, following an appeal filed by Grameen Kalyan challenging the earlier High Court ruling. The court also set 13 December for a comprehensive hearing on the matter before a full bench of the Appellate Division led by the Chief Justice. Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun represented Grameen Kalyan during the proceedings.
The legal dispute stems from tax assessments covering five fiscal years—specifically 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17. The NBR had claimed that Grameen Kalyan owed 666 crore taka in unpaid income taxes for these periods. In response, Grameen Kalyan filed two separate writ petitions in 2017 challenging the validity of the tax commissioner’s decision. Counsel for Grameen Kalyan argued that the tax demands were unjustified, noting that 15 per cent tax at source is routinely deducted when dividends are paid to the organisation, making additional tax claims repetitive and unfounded.
The litigation has followed a complex procedural trajectory through the courts. On 4 August 2024, a High Court bench initially dismissed Grameen Kalyan’s writ petitions. However, on 29 August 2024, that judgment was recalled after it was revealed that the junior judge on the bench had previously served as a Deputy Attorney General representing the government in the same dispute, presenting a potential conflict of interest.
The case documents were subsequently forwarded to the Chief Justice, who reassigned the matter to a new High Court bench led by Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah. On 10 September, the newly assigned bench delivered its verdict, again dismissing the writs and upholding the NBR’s tax demand—a decision whose full written text was formally published earlier this month.
With Sunday’s order from the Appellate Division Chamber Court, the enforcement of the High Court’s ruling and any immediate tax recovery actions by the NBR remain frozen until the full bench considers the merits of the appeal in December.
